Results is an indie comedy from writer and director Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha) centring ostensibly on Danny (Kevin Corrigan), who is looking to get fit after a divorce, although its actual protagonists turn out to be Trevor (Guy Pearce), the gym owner whose establishment Danny joins, and his ex-lover Kat (Cobie Smulders), the fitness trainer who begins to work with Danny.

The film feels small, and I do not use the word wholly as a criticism. Its focus is refined, and it deals with the interactions primarily between its main three characters. There’s support from Giovanni Ribisi in a small role, and Anthony Michael Hall in an even smaller one, but really it’s a three-header.

‘Small’ also applies to the film’s ambitions, and again that isn’t necessarily a criticism. Bujalski lets his story runs its course in a relaxed fashion – the degree to which anything really progresses or changes is minimal. This isn’t a problem while the film is on – its three leads, in particular the mercurial and ever-charismatic Guy Pearce, are on good form – but when it finishes, you feel like it ought to have done something a little more memorable with the setup. The film is a good watch, and is well acted, but it won’t stick long in the mind.

The story takes a slightly odd turn towards the end, and to a degree the film squanders the sympathy it builds up for Danny in opening third, but that said Results is not without nice touches, and will raise a smile more than a few times. Guy Pearce’s slightly off-kilter performance as philosophy-driven Trevor is worth a look, but the film as a whole can’t make quite the same impression.

You might also like

FAN THE FIRE is a digital magazine about lifestyle and creative culture. Launching back in 2005 as a digital publication about Sony’s PSP handheld games console, we’ve grown and evolved now covering the arts and lifestyle, architecture, design and travel.